Tough Love
by Polka-dot Pippin
Summary: After the shocking arrival of Diamond Took at the most inopportune moment, Pippin's love for his childhood crush is revived. The question is, can he finally stop crushing on her and make something of it? My first fanfiction, please review!
1. The Arrival

**THE ARRIVAL**

_**The Shire, November 25**__**th**__** 1419 SR**_

It was quite warmer than one would expect for an afternoon in the late autumn, and quite windy too. The falling leaves were blowing about; dancing in the air in beautiful patterns (according to Merry, though he is known to to exaggerate). Being a few weeks after we had arrived back in the Shire, Frodo, Merry and I had only just settled back down into Crickhollow after helping return the Shire to its former glory and hunting down a couple of rebels. On the other hand, Sam was living with the Cotton's on their family farm temporarily. If you ask me, he was probably only trying to work his way up Rosie Cotton's skirt, because when you think about it he hardly had any other reason to stay there. Oh, and he had been crushing on her for years, if that seals the bet. Good luck Sam, my blessings are with you.

In other news, Frodo had become the local tailor for this side of Buckland. As well as that, my birthday was fast approaching and still didn't have a gift to give Merry. How about my old socks? He should appreciate anything I give him, that stupid peasant. No, just joking, Merry is my best friend, even if he was family. I wonder what sort of cake my Mother will make me for my birthday. I personally wish for chocolate. No, scratch that I want coffee cake, mmmmm delicious…. Maybe carrot and walnut cake? My head is going to explode, there are just too many to choose from. Why does everything related with food and parties have to be so hard? I really just hope there is a cherry pie. Or a blueberry pie. Where would I be without pie? Apple pies are quite nice, especially when Pearl, my older sister, makes them. Her pies are always the best. Oh dear, now my mouth is watering. Food is the only thing I _really_ need in life, isn't it?

Well, I must have been staring out into space (more accurately into the garden) for much too long because Merry came up behind me and spun me around to face him.

"Pippin, are you alright? You have been staring out of that window for the past quarter of the hour. There cannot be anything_ that_ interesting out there. Wait a second, why are you drooling?" Merry said, appearing concerned for me and the small bit of sanity that I had left.

"Uh, yes Merry, I am absolutely fine. I am, as usual thinking about food, well, Pearl's delicious pies. You remember them don't you? Well anyway, I am definitely just as sane as I was before, if that is what you were worried about." I said, though I could not help being slightly peeved at Merry for disturbing me from my wonderful, obsessive thoughts of food, glorious food. Well, it's not as if my thoughts were in any way philosophical. Though, in a way they were.

"Well, I do guess that's alright. Probably. Even though you were not all too sane to begin with. Or as innocent as you seem for that matter." Merry's dark brown eyes gleamed with amusement. "Anyway, while you were staring at the dirt, your dear cousin Frodo has come up with a _marvellous_ idea which could prove to be _extremely_ fun. Because you don't have anything to do, besides stare at dirt, you should give it a try along with us. Frodo! Explain your _fantastic_ idea!" Merry said and clapped his hands in a commanding fashion. As Merry passed by me he whispered into my ear and I sniggered to myself silently: "Because he doesn't have enough of them, does he? You are just going to _love _this one"

Frodo, who seemed to entirely miss the sarcasm that was dripping from Merry's words, began to explain his idea with much enthusiasm. He also began pacing the room at the same time after jumping out of his seat, which only made me snigger more and whisper some snide comments to Merry who nodded with a look of clear amusement on his face. "Given the fact we are bored out of our minds, I have thought of exactly what will put us back in a good mood." At this, Frodo steepled his fingers and paused for dramatic effect. Very suddenly he spun around to face me with a proud smile that stopped my sniggering for just a second. "Well, I had the idea for us to have a modelling competition which may or may not involve cross dressing. Pip, before you complain like I know you will, please give it a try. I promise it will be fun!"

"Really Frodo, you must get over this! Why do you _always_ come up with ideas like this? You should know we can't always cross-dress. It really is bad enough that you suggested we do so on the journey to Mordor, that was a serious mission of chief importance, you should have known better! Seriously Frodo!" I said, slightly more annoyed than was really necessary. I was kind of enjoying this, though. Frodo looked as though I had just torn his heart out and ate it! Really, what an overreaction!

"Pippin, don't behave like that! Frodo has some dresses he has not put in the shop yet, we could use those. Come on, it will be fun!" Merry said in a pleasant (slightly sarcastic) voice with a smile to match, but with a deadly spark in his eyes which usually meant if he was crossed he would throw something at you. Being chased around the room with a murderous Merry on your tail is not the ideal way to spend one's afternoon. I still can't believe how quickly he changed his attitude (he has always been extremely protective of Frodo's feelings) even if he couldn't keep all the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Oh fine, I'm in!" I said with a massive sigh (mainly at the thought of Merry hurling a chair, or even better, the table, across the room at me. Oh, and the fact that Frodo looked as though he were on the brink of bursting into tears. He looked like a sad puppy.) "I'm sorry Frodo, I was just joking. I would love to be a part of this… er… thing, it sounds_ extremely _fun!" I said with a wide, false smile. I could not believe that such a huge lie could come out of my mouth. Sure, I had lied in the past thousands of times, but this felt like the largest of them all. And the smile! Oh dear lord, don't even get me started on the smile!

Twenty minutes later and Frodo was having the time of his life and I was barely able to keep up the façade of enjoyment. The only reason I was able to was because Merry kept shooting me death stares and was whispering threats to me under his breath. Why is he so caring of Frodo and not me? I'm younger than him by several years; he should care about my wellbeing more than he currently does. I don't really care that much anyway. I treat him how he treats me.

"Hey, Pippin, why aren't you doing any modelling? I'm sure you would be FABULOUS at it!" Frodo asked me with an excited look on his face. I was only just able to suppress a shudder at the way the word 'fabulous' was used in that sentence. "And that colour really suites you! Green really makes your eyes a more striking shade of emerald and your red hair blends with that colour extremely well. Your freckles though, oh my! It's perfect!" Frodo squealed in delight at how well he could match my looks with the perfect colour of clothing. No offence to Frodo, but I really could not care less about whether my eyes were a 'striking' colour or if my hair and freckles blended well and stand out! I learnt long ago that such petty things did not matter, that there were more important things in the world than my appearance. And how correct that was proved throughout my travels!

"And how right he is, Pippin! Come on, give us a twirl Pip!" Merry laughed.

At that, I could not help but let a grin (real this time) spread across my face. I twirled around, my skirt billowing at the sudden burst of motion. I made my way up our makeshift catwalk (the hallway) and began to walk down, occasionally posing in a doorway or against the wall. I then made my way into the parlour and leaped onto the table Merry was allegedly going to throw at me earlier. I then pulled off one of those sexy French-girl poses on the table and Merry burst into an uncontrollable fit of laughter and Frodo began wildly applauding.

There was a knock at the front door.

"Come in, the door's unlocked" Merry called down the hallway.

I blew Merry a kiss and tossed a playful wink at Frodo.

The thudding sound of footsteps was rapidly approaching.

The door clicked open.

Very suddenly a look of shock and horror crossed my features and I quickly dropped the hand that I was using to make suggestive suggestive gestures at Frodo. I could feel the blood rapidly rising to my face and the thumping noise of my heart beating in my chest. I could not believe it! Of all the hobbits in the world, why, oh why, did it have to be her?

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**Author's note: Ok, hi to all the people who could actually be bothered reading this far! I just have a few points to raise so this hopefully won't take long! Firstly, I do not own 'The Lord of the Rings' or any of the characters in this story, I only own the story idea. Secondly, I do not mean to show prejudice or bias in my writing, if you have concerns raise them with me. Lastly, please review and feel free to tell me your ideas for the story because I am open to suggestions! Thank-you for reading this note and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! :D **

**P.S: Sorry for the cross dressing part, I know it was quite weird and I will try to avoid things like that in future.**

**~Polka-Dot Pippin**


	2. Mild Embarrasment

**MILD EMBARRASMENT**

Never in my life had I been so utterly embarrassed! Of all the times she could have chosen to arrive, she chose this one! I mean, come on, it's hardly fair! It's not every day that your crush walks in on you cross-dressing on your cousins' parlour table. Really, who would expect it? I have to take a few deep breaths to calm myself and to recover from the shock. I swear I was going to faint.

"D-Diamond, how n-nice to see you after s-so long" I said with a weak smile and as much enthusiasm as I could muster.  
"Wonderful to see you, too. Though, I may have mistimed my arrival." Diamond said, flashing me a kind smile. I have always loved the way that her smile dimples in her left cheek and makes her eyes widen and sparkle the blue of the Brandywine river. It lit up her whole face wonderfully… wait, why am I even thinking about this! What is wrong with me, I should be focusing on making an excuse to get out of the room, not admiring the way Diamond smiles! Focus Peregrin, focus!  
"Well yes, but that cannot be helped now, can it?" I jumped off the table. "Just wait here a few minutes while my cousins and I get, uhhh, changed. Don't worry, it won't take long!" Ugh, how embarrassing!

I wander out of the room as fast as I could without tripping over this cursed dress, not particularly wanting to see my cousins' reaction to that. They totally know why I did it.  
"Please excuse him, he is PMSing, though he does always have a shockingly quick temper" That was Merry. Diamond laughed and Merry followed me out of the room, the git!  
"What the hell was that about, you traitorous swine! I wasn't that bad, and I do not have a quick temper!" I said, realising slightly too late that I was probably loud enough for Diamond to hear me, a second later realising that I was just proving his point. Stupid Merry, if only he didn't get me into these positions!  
"What, I was just stating obvious facts, I mean, if you weren't short of temper you wouldn't have shouted at me just now, would you?" He said with a sly grin on his face.  
"You know perfectly well why that is! I am so close to killing you Merry, you really do have no idea!"  
Frodo's voice echoed out of the parlour. "I'd better go sort them out before they rip each other's throats open! One moment please!"

I turned my back to Merry and stormed off with my cheeks blazing just as Frodo emerged. I was beginning to suspect that Merry had set all of this up for a joke. I mean, he was very insistent on me participating in all that nonsense, and he had known for a long while now how strong my feelings for Diamond were. I'm never telling him anything of this sort again, just for my pride's sake. Hopefully Diamond is forgetful, or at least kind enough not to bring this up on future occasions, especially not in front of my parents.

When I arrived in my bedroom I slammed the door and slid back against the back of it. I ended up sitting with my knees drawn up to my chest and my fingers running through my hair. Trying to keep myself from bursting into tears, I took a few deep breaths. "You fool, you complete and utter fool, Peregrin!" I told myself in a whisper. "Why did you do it, why? So, so stupid. Fool of a Took!"

When I had finally gathered up the courage to walk out of the bedroom and into the parlour Merry was standing right outside the door. I was going to walk right past him but he put his hand on my chest as I was walking past him.  
"Hey, Pippin. I know that you're quite pissed at me for multiple reasons. I can understand somewhat, I would really hate it if that had been Estella. I'm really sorry about it. At least you have enough courage to walk back in there"  
I spoke without facing him. "Does that go for the set up part too? Or are you going to deny that? I really can't begin to imagine why you would do something like that to me."  
"Well, you really are smarter than you look, aren't you Pip? I really didn't think that you would get so upset about all of this, it was just a bit of fun! I am sorry, alright Pippin!"  
"I can act as though I've forgiven you for Diamond, but it will take more than that, my dear cousin. Much more." I walked past him without hesitation and entered the parlour.

Walking into the parlour, I instantly noticed the tension that was building up. Frodo had begun to tell Diamond that her clothes were sooo last season and Diamond did not seem too happy about him saying that. But he was too far into his ramblings to notice. And it isn't too pretty when Diamond got pissed off, not too pretty at all. I began speaking before I even knew what I was talking about.  
"So Diamond, I'm sorry about all that, I'm changed now, as you can see and" I flashed her a wide, mischievous grin, "I'm all yours now. Would you like some tea?"  
"Yes please, and thank-you for the kind offer." She said, flicking her black curly hair back behind her shoulders.  
As I got up to make her tea I was blushing, thankfully I had my back turned to her and she couldn't see. She said thank-you! I know that this is a slight overreaction, but I can't help it! It's like a celebrity saying hello to you and walking away; they don't know how much of an affect they're having on you but you're dying inside. Except in this instance it's someone I've known since I was a young child saying something as small as a thank-you. I know, it's crazy.

Merry entered the room after five minutes with a look that gave nothing away about what had happened in the hall just before. He just sat down across from Diamond and nodded politely at her.  
"Sorry for my absence, I just had to attend to my thoughts." He turned and looked me in the eyes; green meeting brown. He was trying to tell me that he was to the bottom of his heart sorry, I didn't need any words to tell me that, only the pleading look in his eyes. I was the first to drop my gaze. The guilt was overwhelming, I should accept his apology for deep down I knew it was just a stupid little joke that was not meant to hurt me. But it did. _Just a couple of days _a voice inside my head told me _he needs to know how it feels to be on the receiving end._  
"Is that tea you're making, Pip? If it is, can you please make me a cup too?" Merry asked much more formally than he usually would. He would usually just demand it (but in a nice way).  
"Well, yes. I was making it for all of us but it's good to see you use your manners for once." I replied without facing him.  
"Your one to talk Pippin. We usually have to remind you a number of times to use your manners." Frodo chipped in with an amused tone of voice. I'm glad he thought I was so funny.  
I turned and raised my eyebrow at Frodo "Do you really want to start this conversation?" I turned back to the tea, pouring it into four cups. I put the tea cups on a tray and carried it over to the table. It was then that I realised that Frodo and Merry had left the seat next to Diamond vacant, both of the sitting on the other side of the small table. Merry was grinning at me widely. They set me up again! I can't say that I'm not pleased, because really, I am. It's more the fact that they keep tricking me into these things.

I took my seat next to Diamond nervously and sipped my tea. _You can do this, _said my inner voice, _you can impress her and entice her into your bedroom…_. I shook the thought away, I wasn't going to entice her into the bedroom (not yet at any rate). I had to gain her trust and love before I decided on something so drastic. I quickly glanced at her, hoping that all those moments I had spent in charming her as a child were worthwhile. Would they count for anything in the long run?  
"So, uh, Diamond. How are you liking the tea? I see you're able to hold it down at any rate. That's a start." I suddenly came to realise that Merry was glancing at me, and then back down to the contents of his cup suspiciously. "What Merry, why are you looking at me like that?"  
Merry looked up at me again. "Well, given that Diamond came around and you, uh, how do I put this, don't get many female visitors, I thought that perhaps you drugged the tea to uh…." His sentence trailed away leaving us to infer the rest. Frodo began laughing.  
"Merry, why the hell would I do that, I can win a woman over with a glance in their direction. I make women from far and wide go weak at the knees with a single word. I do not need to drug one to get her into my bed. And anyway, if I were going to drug Diamond, why would I bother drugging you too?" I turned my attention to Diamond who was looking at me with a funny look on her face. I'm not entirely certain what it was. Not certain whether it was admiration or fascination. Whatever it was, I liked the look of it. "Sorry about that stupid outburst from my dear cousin. So, how _are _you liking the tea?" I shot Merry a poisonous look.  
"Oh, the tea is quite nice, thank-you for the kind offer. You must tell me how you make it, Pippin!" Diamond said eagerly.  
Merry looked into his cup "rohypnol." Frodo yet again began cackling. Yes, ha ha ha, very funny Merry, hilarious. I'm dying of laughter! Not.  
"Ha ha ha, thanks for your input, cousin." To Diamond I said "I'll write the recipe down and give it to you when I next see you. She smiled her beautiful smile at me and I exulted in the sight of her. Her hair framed her face perfectly, and the way she smiles is just…. _Get a grip, _I told myself _you can't go all dreamy every time she smiles at you. _Wow, I'm really letting myself go.

Diamond stayed for another twenty minutes before she decided it was about time for her to leave. I had to say, despite the embarrassment I was feeling (still) I had been dreading this moment from the moment she walked in (no matter how embarrassing it was).  
"See you soon, Di', it's been so long and we really need to meet up again some time." I said as I (politely) hugged her goodbye. Don't get me wrong, I was doing this more for myself than I was out of politeness.  
"Indeed Peregrin, maybe next time we meet up you can try on my clothes." She said with a playful wink.  
I sighed "Am I ever going to live today down?"  
"Not likely" she said with a huge grin on her face. "Well, I had better get going before it's too dark. Good evening!"  
"Fare well Diamond." I said smiling at her.  
She smiled back at me and closed the door as she walked out.

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**Reader: Please excuse the delay in my update of the story. Pressing matters (school mostly) got in the way of my writing. Thanks for your support and please, please, please review! I really need the help! Even something like 'I love this story' or 'this is a load of rubbish, stop writing' would be helpful! :D**

**P.S: Thank-you so much to Tengyuanhanyan and HalfCelticHalfWolf for following this story or adding this story to favourites, you have no idea how much I appreciate it! Thank-you! ;)**


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